Tag: security

North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, amid sharply rising tensions along the heavily armed inter-Korean border. The missiles were launched at around 12:30 p.m. local time from the area around Wonsan, on North Korea’s eastern coast, and flew about 250 kilometres toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

South Korea’s military said it was strengthening surveillance and maintaining readiness for any additional launches, while sharing information closely with the United States and Japan. Japan’s Defence Ministry said North Korea had launched what could have been a ballistic missile and that it did not appear to have landed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, according to reports. No damage to aircraft or ships around Japan was confirmed.

South Korea’s presidential National Security Office convened an emergency meeting to assess the security implications of the launches. In a statement, the presidential office urged North Korea to halt its repeated ballistic missile launches, describing them as a serious violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Officials in Seoul said further analysis of the missiles’ specifications was under way in coordination with the United States.

Border tensions behind the launch

The launch came as tensions along the border have risen sharply since two mine explosions in the Demilitarized Zone on September 21 wounded three South Korean soldiers. Seoul says the mines were planted by North Korean forces and has called the incident an armistice violation, demanding an apology. Pyongyang has denied responsibility and accused Seoul of fabricating the incident, according to reports.

The latest test also followed Seoul’s proposal, made days earlier, for military talks with Pyongyang to address differences over border demarcation. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, had announced that Pyongyang would place loudspeakers capable of broadcasting anti-South Korean propaganda on standby across the border, saying they would be ready along the entire border by the end of October, although analysts in Seoul questioned whether the devices would be activated.

South Korea’s military also said earlier on Thursday that North Korean artillery batteries visible from across the border appeared largely intended for show. Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Jang Do-young told a briefing that the exposure of older weapon systems should be understood as being for show, while the Defence Ministry said placing artillery where it could be easily seen made little tactical sense. North Korean soldiers were also seen erecting fences inside the Demilitarized Zone.

Analysts quoted in reporting on the launch said it was difficult to say the border situation directly prompted the missile test, but that it formed part of a broader series of North Korean shows of force. Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Seoul’s Dongguk University, said the launch also appeared intended to demonstrate North Korea’s increasingly advanced ballistic missile capabilities to the United States, Japan and the broader international community. North Korea last fired ballistic missiles on October 12, and has conducted missile tests on more than 10 occasions this year, according to South Korea’s military. Seoul said it was still awaiting a response to its proposals for military talks and had urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue.